New Name On Top; Seek-N-Destroy
Strikes First!
Team #6 no-shows; Renegade team will emerge!

The defending Team Demolition Derby Tournament of Destruction Champions, the Junkyard Dogs, were number 1 on every other team's hit list entering 2009; Team #2 put them in the cross hairs and attacked! Greg Mesich's squad of red-painted veteran warriors and rising rookies disposed of a weak Team #4, showed they were for real with an ousting of Team #7, then shocked the team demo faithful with a dominating, destructive win over the Champs!

One of the new teams this year, Team #4 Smash, Bash & Crash, were not fully prepared for this first race and a lot of that was due to limited time. Former Team #4, Havoc, was broken up after 2008 with Rich Wilson and Jason Ritacco landing on the new-look Damage, Inc. While Steve Gursky, Jr. and Chris McGuire found new rides with the new-look Team #7, Reckoning.

Kyle Shearer was a pivotal part of the KillBillies improbable win last year to end JYD's perfect season. Now, Shearer is part of the dog pound looking to get the JYD in position for another record breaking run.

Seek-N-Destroy's night began with an auspicious start. Their final car to be unloaded was suck on the trailer with a broken tie-rod! After some tool and part hunting, the car was eventually unloaded and ready for the first round. The bad luck definitely did not carry on the rest of the evening.

The aforementioned Team #8, Damage Inc., rolled in with style and some fresh paint. An expanded partnership with Heavy Metal Performance (HMP) our of Rockdale, IL has exposed the team to new resources and new power. "Repo" Dave Swan still heads up the team and is ready to bust out of a several year slump.

In the opening race, the JYD looked as strong as ever with an easy slaughtering of Mean Green Machines. #35 Gerritt Vanderbilt and #03 Ryan Bleuer cruised around for laps while #33 Joe Snow and #38 Kyle Shear picked apart the three MGMs. Second generation racer, #15 Nick Hartung made is debut for MGM, but did not fair too well in the 90s Lincoln. Mike Beck and Freddie Knight were also out there for Team #1.

Stranglehold returns this year with 3/4ths of the Van Allen brothers still behind the wheel. Josh decided to leave demos altogether due to other commitments which allowed backup driver Matt Pierce to pilot the #57 full-time. A great back and forth match, the longest battle of the night. Big shots traded back and forth including a wicked head-on between Zac Van Allen and #84 Nick Ritter. Stranglehold made an early lap lead stick the whole way and were headed to the second round.

Team #6 went through owner difficulty and changes all throughout the 2008 season and into the winter of 2009, it seemed a new owner was in place and would be ready for the first event. That did not become reality, however, as Team #6 essentially no-showed this race! Bound to not let the fans down, Mike Beck jumped back in his MGM car while the beauty car for Seek-N-Destroy joined him in a 2-on-4 effort against the new, powerful Reckoning team. Reckoning replaces last year's Killer Bee's, but kept a few of the pieces including new team owner Brian Anderson and #74 "Speedy" Steve Volbrecht.
Reckoning did not hold back, ripping apart the two victims even before Lap 1 was completed. Beck refused to go down and kept re-firing his car, but that was simply blood for the Team #7 sharks to smell. Beck was pulverized was all angles and bashed around inside the car. Reckoning got a free pass in this one, but would find a much tougher fight very soon.

The drivers of Seek-N-Destroy had waited 8 long months to hit the track and seek out vengeance. The inability of Team #4 to properly stage their cars was enough to make the short fuse explode. A green flag didn't drop, but Team #2 was ready to make a statement. #23 "Crazy" Art Scarbro led the sneak attack and pummeled the already dead-in-the-mud Smash, Bash & Crash vehicles. Teammates Ron Johnston and Levi Turnbaugh joined in while #22 Robbie Stahulak began making laps. #41 Kurtis Kraehmer was not going to just sit there and take it; he struck back! Kraehmer blind sided a Team #2 car in turn 1, sustaining plenty of damage himself. Scarbro wasn't having any of that, and blasted the #41 with a huge hit of his own.
TDA officials waved off the race after a few laps, giving Team #2 the win. Scarbro, however, wasn't finished making his mark. He slowly drove back to the pits, but hooked a quick left and drove into and on top of the concrete wall! Scarbro threw up his hands looking for approval and he got it as the fans erupted. He walked away from the car leaving the TDA to shove it back off the wall. Now that's how you make a statement and name for yourself.

Two 10-lap pickup truck races made this a stacked lineup of excitement. The first race went to the #23 truck after passing the #12 F-150 on Lap 8.

Stranglehold and JYD were at opposite ends of the spectrum after the second race in 2008. A few nasty hits, lots and lots of words exchanged, and heated rivals were born. JYD were superior to pretty much everyone last year, but Stranglehold was ready for another chance with a clean slate. Unfortunately, the results came out the same. The Dogs never let Stranglehold wage much of an offensive against them. #38 Kyle Shearer took over the runner spot after 3 laps as #03 Ryan Bleuer got picked off once and turned into a blocker. Stranglehold succumbed to another semi-final round loss while the JYD drove all 4 cars off the track and headed to the Finals.

The carnage cranked up and cars piled up after this this next race between two re-branded teams, Reckoning and Seek-N-Destroy. Both teams held nothing back and attacked with brute force towards the opposition. Sick, hard hits flying everywhere! #22 Robbie Stahulak was out front, collecting laps untouched. #74 Steve Volbrecht rocked his former team captain with a brutal head-on smash as Stahulak entered Turn 1! The leader's car withstood the heavy damage, never lost power and surged through to continue running! But he only made it a few more car length before being absolutely BLASTED in the passenger door by another former teammate, #7 Brian Anderson!
For a moment, Reckoning appeared to be ready for a comeback, but Stahulak again was able to continue on! Seek-N-Destroy mounted an incredible offensive and nailed every Reckoning car with one fell swoop! Seek-N- Destroy advanced to the Finals!

Ed "Booger" Walker picked up another truck race victory, this time with his unique take on the Grave Digger monster truck, the "Grave Dugger" Suburban. Walker has this track down to a science and nearly lapped all the other trucks.

FINALS

Time for the big iron to roll out! All Final round matches are now the only race of the night to allow the non-metric or "80s cars." Eight metal monsters were lined up and ready to roar to decide first night!
It was a drag race to the first turn, one which Seek-N-Destroy barely won and Stahulak found himself in the lead again, but only momentarily. #35 Vanderbilt stole the lead back around Turn 3, but was shove off the lead and Stahulak re-gained the advantage.
Huge hits were flying at all corners of the track. #33 Joe Snow is usually the man delivering the big time punishment to the opponents, but wound up nailing #03 Ryan Bleuer on two separate occasions! Snow attempted to nail Stahulak as he rounded Turn 1, still in the lead, but left himself wide open for a bone-breaking head on it from Scarbro in a borrowed Team #7 car! Insane hit! Snow's wagon was rendered useless after that shot.
Scarbro took out #34 Johnny Ryan with an errant door shot, #20 Ron Johnston and #26 Levi Turnbaugh struck any blue car left running and cleared a path for Stahulak. Once again Seek-N-Destroy leveled the competition in a matter of seconds! Stahulak took the checkered flag for the first time since winning the title with the Killer Bee's in 2007!

Congratulations to Seek-N-Destroy for coming out strong and instantly making a name for themselves with a huge victory. But, as the JYD know, there are now seven teams seeing red at the top of the points and preparing to strike back. The hunters are now the hunted. Can Seek-N-Destroy maintain their incredible momentum, or will the the Junkyard Dogs, Reckoning or one of the other teams be able to bounce back and mount a legitimate counter assault on Team #2?
Plus, Seek-N-Destroy only saw 6 of the current teams in action... A brand new Team #6 will debut at Round 2, June 20th and is rumored to be a "super team" stocked full of grizzled team demo veterans ready to get back in the fray and add to their legacy.
The 2009 Team Demolition Derby Tournament of Destruction rolls on...